| Quote From Source: |
| What’s being called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has now been seen in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and way out in California. Some bee keepers have lost up to 80 percent of their colonies to the mysterious disorder. "Those are quite scary numbers," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s lead apiarist. Whatever kills the bees targets adult workers which die outside the colony — with few adults left inside, either alive or dead. The disorder decimates the worker bee population in a matter of weeks. Aside from making honey, honey bees are essential for the pollination of tens of million of dollars worth of cash crops all over the United States. That’s why almond growers of California, for instance, are taking notice and pledging funds to help identify and fight the honey bee disorder. Among the possible culprits are a fungus, virus, or a variety of microbes and pesticides. No one knows just yet. On first inspection, the pattern of die-offs resembles something that has been seen in more isolated cases in Louisiana, Texas and Australia, vanEngelsdorp said. |
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| Quote From Source: |
| We're in the middle of a bee emergency. Albert Einstein said, "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years left to live." A mysterious ailment called Colony Collapse Disorder is causing agricultural honeybees nationwide to abandon their hives and disappear. It's a kind of mass suicide in the bee world. Entomologist Jerry Bromenshenk says, "Individual beekeepers are really taking a beating. A guy down in Oklahoma lost 80% of his 13,000 colonies in the last month. In Florida, there are a whole lot of people facing 40, 60 and 80 percent losses. That’s huge." With CCD, most adult honeybees abandon a hive and disappear, abandoning the queen and a remnant of younger bees. This is unheard of, since normally a bee colony will do almost anything to protect its queen. Since the tasks done in the hive are very stratified, bees cannot survive on their own. |
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Wow now that is creepy.
hrmm sounds like we have 4 years left to live...a little early because that only puts us at 2011....perhaps Albert meant 5 years?
| Quote From Source: |
| The cost of almonds, blueberries, cucumbers, apples, peaches and a lot of other foods may soar in the coming months. "One out of every three bites of food we eat is produced as the result of insect pollination, much of it by bees," said Bruce Broynton, a spokesman for the National Honey Board... |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
I guess you never really realize how important these guys are. We for years had yellow jacket problems. I don't recall seeing one around my house this past year.
Now they are talking the economic impact could be disastrous. Forget the economy. You lose your pollinators everything will die.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/03/29/news/honeybees/index.htm
Imagine a mass extinction started by the death of something people would consider to be insignificant. If the bee disappears so do we.
Edit: Here is something to think about. These are tiny creatures. Do we really know how sensitive they are to pollution? I mean you smoke a nest to basically put them to sleep so you can move them. What if while increased CO2 levels are to blame. Perhaps while CO2 level increases don't bother anything else maybe the bees respiratory system can't handle anything over a certain level. Maybe we've crossed the level and the bees are starting to die of CO2 poisoning?
Maybe we've crossed the level and the bees are starting to die of CO2 poisoning?
I wonder if anyone has looked into this ... we know CO2 has
risen over the past years.
It really makes sense. Humans have a tolerance level when it comes to CO2. If there is too much of it in the air we die. Who knows how sensitive bees are.
| Quote From Source: |
| It is a mystery causing heated debate in the world of beekeeping: What's wrong with the bees? Why are they suddenly and without warning leaving their colonies — and disappearing almost overnight — by the millions in the United States, Canada and Europe? Nationwide, there are 2.4 million bee colonies that are used in agriculture to pollinate everything from almonds to fruits to flowering plants. Beekeepers estimate that 600,000, about 25 percent of the colonies, have been affected by the mysterious disappearance. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 27 states from New York to California are now affected by the bee mystery. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
| Quote From Source: |
| This is a problem in the US that has been reported in around half the states and has now spread to Canada. The UK and eight other European countries also report the same problem: Spain, Poland, Greece, Croatia, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, and Germany. Jasper Copping reports in the British Telegraph newspaper that in London, over 4,000 hives in London alone, two-thirds of the bees are missing. Sometimes the dead bees are found, but often the bees seem to have simply disappeared. One of the strangest parts of this whole mystery is that, in London at least, no "robber" bees have invaded the empty hives to make off with the stored honey, which is what usually happens when hives are left empty. |
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| Quote From Source: |
The normal winter mortality rate is about 15 per cent. John Chapple, the chairman of the London Beekeepers' Association, who has lost the populations in 30 of his 40 hives, said:"It's frightening. The mortality rate is the highest in living memory and no one seems to know what's behind it." In Worcestershire and Hereford, of the 20 hives checked, only one had survived. In West Sussex, more than 80 per cent of the colonies had been lost. |
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Oh I have a feeling I know what it is. Too much CO2 in their systems.
might sound stupid but i'm not so sure its CO2 thats the problem.
to make the bees go to sleep they douse the colonies with smoke. the bees don't die if they got a a funnel full of blowing smoke on top of them. then when they wake up, they're back to being normal. it wouldn't make sense if background CO2 levels are making them act in the way thats causing the die offs.
I think its strange that the abandoned nests aren't being invaded, like there is something wrong with the nest - or the honey.
| Quote From Source: |
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US beekeepers have been stung in recent months by the mysterious disappearance of millions of bees threatening honey supplies as well as crops which depend on the insects for pollination. ADVERTISEMENT Bee numbers on parts of the east coast and in Texas have fallen by more than 70 percent, while California has seen colonies drop by 30 to 60 percent. According to estimates from the US Department of Agriculture, bees are vanishing across a total of 22 states, and for the time being no one really knows why. "Approximately 40 percent of my 2,000 colonies are currently dead and this is the greatest winter colony mortality I have ever experienced in my 30 years of beekeeping," apiarist Gene Brandi, from the California State Beekeepers Association, told Congress recently. |
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Well if we lose the rest of the bees by next year than that will be the year 2008. Einstein said we would have 4 years to live after that happens wich will put us in the year 2012!!
So of all the events that could happen to wipe us out, this is the one thing nobody would have ever expected. Getting killed by NO honey bees.....who woulda thunk that? 
its all about 2012 - I've know this my entire adult life.
just havn't figured out all the details yet...
| Quoting causeiambetta - posted on 4/7/2007 at 02:08 |
might sound stupid but i'm not so sure its CO2 thats the problem. to make the bees go to sleep they douse the colonies with smoke. the bees don't die if they got a a funnel full of blowing smoke on top of them. then when they wake up, they're back to being normal. it wouldn't make sense if background CO2 levels are making them act in the way thats causing the die offs. |
| Quote From Source: |
| Beekeepers nationwide are opening their hives and finding them empty, a baffling phenomenon that has researchers scratching their heads and farmers worrying about their crops. The bees are mysteriously vanishing and no one is sure why. Instead of thriving colonies, beekeepers say they're typically finding only a queen and a few attendants left--but no trace of the other bees, not even their bodies. The cause of colony collapse disorder is unknown, although poor nutrition, mites, diseases and pesticides have all been suspect. There is also concern that some genetically modified crops may be producing pollen or nectar that is problematic for the bees, said Brandi. |
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genetically modified crops? ok, now we know they're grasping for anything at this point
I think thats a possibility.
if it is, then the situation is already doomed. genetic modified crops are next to impossible to stop from spreading
| Quote From Source: |
| Here is an update to the brief bee story we did a few weeks ago. I’ve been keeping an eye on the Colony Collapse Disorder phenomenon that is causing a lot of furrowed brows in the U.S., as this may well become the biggest issue of 2007. Things are getting dire on the U.S. agricultural front, and there are similar reports beginning to filter through from countries in Europe The sad mystery surrounding the humble honeybee - which is a vital component in $14bn-worth of US agriculture - is beginning to worry even the highest strata of the political class in Washington. “Hillary Clinton’s got interested in this in the last week or so,” said David Hackenberg, the beekeeper leading the drive to publicise their plight. “And she’s not alone,” he said. “There’s a lot of Congressmen have called…wanting to know what’s going on. It’s serious. - BBC There’s still no concrete evidence about what is killing the millions and billions of bees around the country, but there are a lot of guesses. |
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How do you even begin to combat something like this?
| Quote From Source: |
| Scientists claim radiation from handsets are to blame for mysterious 'colony collapse' of bees By Geoffrey Lean and Harriet Shawcross Published: 15 April 2007 It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail. They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world - the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon - which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe - was beginning to hit Britain as well. The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees' navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up. |
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my list
1a. cell phones
1b. wireless routers
2. GM crops
3. magnetic changes
4. solar changes
more?
I'm leaning towards suffocation still.
5. George Bush
| Quote From Source: |
| Up to 90 percent of the honeybees in U.S. commercial colonies are dying suddenly. No one knows why. The bee die-off poses major threats to agriculture. Up to one-third of the nation's food supply depends on bee pollination. |
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One-third huh? What will the ripple effect be on the other two-thirds?
up to 90% now? Any news in Europe?
so if the rest die next year...2008, einstein says we have 4 years left.....2008+4=2012....yup. Killed by no bees, whu'd thunk that? Seriously this is weird. Gulf stream has stopped, bees are dying off and I have yet to hear either story on the news. Move along people (baaah*baaah*) nothing to see here....
the sheeple remain un-impressed...
| Quoting DanG - posted on 4/19/2007 at 15:55 |
the sheeple remain un-impressed... |
hey - I just bought a new(er) car 
Check this out...
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread75549/pg
I called them yellow jackets at the time because I don't know one bee from another. I looked "yellow jacket" up on Google Images today and they weren't yellow jackets. They resembled honey bees more than yellow jackets. But that is when I noticed the change.
Ed Dames said on Art Bell about two weeks ago that he remote viewed why they were dying and got: Too much ultraviolet because the ozone hole has thinned. Bees devote 1/3 eye to ultraviolet hence too much UV blinds them causing them to lose there way and starve to death. Starving seems to fit the die off, no visible signs of disease or mites, few bees remaining in hive.
BUT our scientists claim ozone hole is fixing itself and is much better than ten years ago.
Since it takes about 25 years for 50% CFCs to reach Ozone layer after being released into atmosphere, and from 50 to 100 years for 50% CFCs to degrade in Ozone layer and max use ended about 1985; then how could Ozone layer be fixing itself even if we completely stopped all emissions in 1990 (not true because developing countries still produce and use millions lbs a year), since CFC levels should still be increasing if above half lives are correct even without continued production?????
Ergo, maybe Ed Dames is onto something and our leaders are fibbing to us again.
Cell phone towers are easy to verify as a cause since dieoffs would cluster in there vicinity.
Anyway the year our food supplies would first be affected dramatically by bee dieoffs would be July 17, 2007 to July 16, 2008.
I am really beginning to dislike these 'coincidences' that bear on my sun prediction.
Recovery Ozone layer begins?? http://www.hermes-press.com/Reuters_ozone.htm
History and 300,000 tons CFCs still produced
http://www.hermes-press.com/ozoneone.htm
Other half life measures say 5-6 years to reach stratosphere.
Latest data = dec 2005 http://toms.gsfc.nasa.gov/ozone/ozone_v8.html
Ergo Dames could be right.
http://www.earthfiles.com/search.cfm
This is worse than I imagined. Probably an intersection of causes including Ozone layer depletion with pesticides, herbicides bred into crops, etc
In short, us being really stupid and greedy and short sighted in multiple ways.
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2007/03/06/millions_of_bees_die_are_electromagnetic_signals_to_blame.htm
...us being really stupid and greedy and short sighted...
21st century man defined. 
I wouldn't believe for a minute about the 25 years for 50% of the CFCs to reach the ozone layer. Doesn't remotely sound realistic. And from what I remember the ozone hole over Antarctica had reached record or near record size in the past 12 months. Ozone depletion can be tied directly to temperature change. Colder temps over Antarctica are the driving force.
| Quote From Source: |
| WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Go to work, come home. Go to work, come home. Go to work -- and vanish without a trace. Billions of bees have done just that, leaving the crop fields they are supposed to pollinate, and scientists are mystified about why. The phenomenon was first noticed late last year in the United States, where honeybees are used to pollinate $15 billion worth of fruits, nuts and other crops annually. Disappearing bees have also been reported in Europe and Brazil. Commercial beekeepers would set their bees near a crop field as usual and come back in two or three weeks to find the hives bereft of foraging worker bees, with only the queen and the immature insects remaining. Whatever worker bees survived were often too weak to perform their tasks. If the bees were dying of pesticide poisoning or freezing, their bodies would be expected to lie around the hive. And if they were absconding because of some threat -- which they have been known to do -- they wouldn't leave without the queen. |
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we SO rule
This hearsay, but from a reliable friend with very good contacts.
He has been following the honeybee deaths closely.
on the 22nd said a contact in Califiornia Farming community told him that the Almond pollonation was a complete disastor.
Buy almonds and honey now. Prices are going much much higher.
Indy "I wouldn't believe for a minute about the 25 years for 50% of the CFCs to reach the ozone layer. Doesn't remotely sound realistic."
5-6 or 25 years is a matter of measurement. The 25 year number was published about 10 years ago.
Given the present minimal 300,000 ton CFC production per year, the half life does not matter.
a record ozone hole last year implies continued thinning.
Honeybee deaths are now reported worldwide. Ergo, not just GMO crops involved so worldwide cause(s) implied.
I do know that the half life must be greater than one year for CFCs must rise at least 15 miles to do damage, that takes awhile.
In short, more data and measurements from reliable people who use replicable experiments or observations that can be confirmed and questioned by others.
not to be abstract, but its so beautiful and mysterious how nature works
| Quote From Source: |
| Science Daily — An alarming die-off of honey bees has beekeepers fighting for commercial survival and crop growers wondering whether bees will be available to pollinate their crops this spring and summer. Researchers are scrambling to find answers to what's causing an affliction recently named Colony Collapse Disorder, which has decimated commercial beekeeping operations in Pennsylvania and across the country. "During the last three months of 2006, we began to receive reports from commercial beekeepers of an alarming number of honey bee colonies dying in the eastern United States," says Maryann Frazier, apiculture extension associate in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. "Since the beginning of the year, beekeepers from all over the country have been reporting unprecedented losses. "This has become a highly significant yet poorly understood problem that threatens the pollination industry and the production of commercial honey in the United States," she says. "Because the number of managed honey bee colonies is less than half of what it was 25 years ago, states such as Pennsylvania can ill afford these heavy losses." |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
i've tried (and failed) to find out if anything is going on to non-commercial bee hives. has anyone found anything? maybe this has a connection to commercial methods of bee keeping?
This should be the busy time for bees around here and I don't know if I've seen more than maybe 2 of any kind.
My hearsay from my friend was confirmed from a most unlikely source, the lady who answered the phone for the Demo chair of the House Agricultural Committee. Her father is a commercial beekeeper and she confirmed that the Almond trees were not pollinated enough. The crop will be very low.
Golly, the Almond Trees are the first crop of the year to use bees I believe. This implies large crop losses for the rest of the crops that require commercial bees for pollinating this year. No almonds = No anything else that requires commercial bees this year.
Nice to see our news media be right on top of the implications for the rest of us who eat food.
ah but the DOW is up - thats the real news...
| Quote From Source: |
| Taiwan's bee farmers are feeling the sting of lost business and possible crop danger after millions of the honey-making, plant-pollinating insects vanished during volatile weather, media and experts said on Thursday. Over the past two months, farmers in three parts of Taiwan have reported most of their bees gone, the Chinese-language United Daily News reported. Taiwan's TVBS television station said about 10 million bees had vanished in Taiwan. A beekeeper on Taiwan's northeastern coast reported 6 million insects missing "for no reason", and one in the south said 80 of his 200 bee boxes had been emptied, the paper said. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
Geez, if its not Paris Hilton, the Dow, or about the upcoming election...its not important.
People dont care until it effects them....but it will be too late by then.
great call on the almond crop connection. sorry to say but this is one of the few forums i come away with some real insight
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050517110843.htm
In addition, yesterday for the first time I heard bee deaths mentioned on radio news, they reported a 25% colony loss. Since normal average colony deaths per winter reported by beekeepers association are 17%, an increase to 25% would not cause the Almond Crop Loss. That would take at least 75%.
I wonder who is doing the fibbing.
| Quoting causeiambetta - posted on 4/26/2007 at 12:31 |
... this is one of the few forums i come away with some real insight |
| Quote From Source: |
| A fungus that caused widespread loss of bee colonies in Europe and Asia may be playing a crucial role in the mysterious phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder that is wiping out bees across the United States, UC San Francisco researchers said Wednesday. Researchers have been struggling for months to explain the disorder, and the new findings provide the first solid evidence pointing to a potential cause. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
Well if its fungus then we dont have to get rid of all of our electronics...until we die from starvation. I seriously think its something we have done.
| Quote From Source: |
| It sounds like the start of a Kurt Vonnegut novel: Nobody worried all that much about the loss of a few animal species here and there until one day the bees came to their senses and decided to quit producing an unnaturally large surplus of honey for our benefit. One by one, they went on strike and flew off to parts unknown. Species loss as a harbinger of the Apocalypse has historically been a less salient fear than the threat of insect plagues. But that may change, as we seem to have a serious problem with bees. A strange new plague is wiping out our honey bees one hive at a time. It has been named Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, by the apiculturalists and apiarists who are scrambling to understand and hopefully stop it. First reported last autumn in the U.S., the list of afflicted countries has now expanded to include several in Europe, as well as Brazil, Taiwan, and possibly Canada.... Perhaps the most ominous thing about CCD, and one of its most distinguishing characteristics, is that bees and other animals living nearby refrain from raiding the honey and pollen stored away in the dead hive. In previously observed cases of hive collapse (and it is certainly not a rare occurrence) these energy stores are quickly stolen. But, with CCD the invasion of hive pests such as the wax moth and small hive beetle is noticeably delayed. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
buried in the above article is this ...
| Quote From Source: |
| Sharon Labchuk is a longtime environmental activist and part-time organic beekeeper from Prince Edward Island. She has twice run for a seat in Ottawa’s House of Commons, making strong showings around 5% for Canada’s fledgling Green Party. She is also leader of the provincial wing of her party. In a widely circulated email, she wrote: I’m on an organic beekeeping list of about 1,000 people, mostly Americans, and no one in the organic beekeeping world, including commercial beekeepers, is reporting colony collapse on this list. The problem with the big commercial guys is that they put pesticides in their hives to fumigate for varroa mites, and they feed antibiotics to the bees. They also haul the hives by truck all over the place to make more money with pollination services, which stresses the colonies. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
So they are doing to bees what the food & drug administration is doing to humans?
| Quoting Indy - posted on 5/2/2007 at 16:15 |
So they are doing to bees what the food & drug administration is doing to humans? |
Excellent article on causes of hive deaths that apparantly started big time in 2005. http://www.nrdc.org/onearth/06sum/bees2.asp
It says varrao mites are not the problem, but confirms what Sharon Labchuk says below. Her quote copied from Dan G's post above.
"Sharon Labchuk is a longtime environmental activist and part-time organic beekeeper from Prince Edward Island. She has twice run for a seat in Ottawa's House of Commons, making strong showings around 5% for Canada's fledgling Green Party. She is also leader of the provincial wing of her party. In a widely circulated email, she wrote:
I'm on an organic beekeeping list of about 1,000 people, mostly Americans, and no one in the organic beekeeping world, including commercial beekeepers, is reporting colony collapse on this list. The problem with the big commercial guys is that they put pesticides in their hives to fumigate for varroa mites, and they feed antibiotics to the bees. They also haul the hives by truck all over the place to make more money with pollination services, which stresses the colonies."
Ergo, industrial agriculture, pesticides, big time commercial beekeeping, coupled with No Liability for corporate farmers dumping their 's---' off onto others property and the general environment, plus destruction of other natural pollinators and we are reaping the whirlwind.
Lesson, become a small organic farmer and beekeeper and stay as far as possible from big time corporate farmers.
Methinks our 'commercial hivelike society' based on ignoring accountability is about to suffer the fate of our commercial beehives.
Someone finally decided this was big news, it was on my aol mainscreen this morning.
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/honeybee-die-off-threatens-us-food/20070502195509990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001
hmmm - our 1st post was on Feb. 6th... so nearly 3 months before
AOL picked it up... should be in the newspapers in another couple.
yep - msnbc has it now -
Declining honeybees a ‘threat’ to food supply
| Quote From Source: |
| Unless someone or something stops it soon, the mysterious killer that is wiping out many of the nation's honeybees could have a devastating effect on America's dinner plate, perhaps even reducing us to a glorified bread-and-water diet. Honeybees don't just make honey; they pollinate more than 90 of the tastiest flowering crops we have. Among them: apples, nuts, avocados, soybeans, asparagus, broccoli, celery, squash and cucumbers. And lots of the really sweet and tart stuff, too, including citrus fruit, peaches, kiwi, cherries, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries, cantaloupe and other melons. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
| Quote From Source: |
| Since 1994 for some, from 1995 or '96 for others, depending on the region, they have witnessed exploitation problems concerning the bees on the sunflower nectar flow: problems of acute hive depopulation and of aberrant behaviour patterns, being accentuated year on year. For them, there is no longer any doubt that these phenomena are linked to the crop flowering period. Imidacloprid has a negative effect on individual bee behaviour, at 1.5 ppb when foraging between 6 and 12 ppb. when relating to criteria allied with olfactory memory and recruitment When relating to sub-chronic toxicity and daily doses of 4.5 picog., THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE SURVIVAL OF THE HARVESTING BEES. Due to sub-lethal effects of certain metabolites of Imidacloprid to be more toxic than the original molecule Due to Imidacloprid being available through nectar and/or pollen of crops treated with GAUCHO at a level of up to 5ppb As the level of accumulated residual Imidacloprid from 3 previously GAUCHO treated crops (equivalent to that delivered by a sowing of GAUCHO treated sunflower seed) That sunflowers and maize are particularly capable at absorbing residual Imidacloprid |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
Remember Americans think we have "rights" so I doubt we give anything up. We'll just expect the Europeans to do it for us.
| Quote From Source: |
| LONDON -- A thick cloud of bees was sucked into the engine of a passenger plane en route to Portugal, forcing the airline to abandon the trip and grounding passengers for 11 hours, a company executive said Saturday. David Skillicorn, managing director of Palmair, said the swarm was spotted off Britain's Bournemouth coast shortly before the Boeing 737 left on Thursday. "Some witnesses claimed there were around 20,000 bees," he said. "The pilot experienced an engine surge about an hour into the flight," Skillicorn said. "He returned to Bournemouth and we found what appeared to be a large number of bees smeared inside the engine." |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
Yummy. Well 20,000 bees bite the dust lol. BTW I haven't seen a single honey bee this season.
I've seen a few.....but its been raining so much they may have floated away.
I have a huge flowering tree (technically flowers though its more like crap to me) in my front yard. It should be loaded with bees. All I see in it is an occasional fat black looking bumble bee. It isn't a bumble bee but has the body of one.
I saw a bee today, almost stepped on it - but in view of all his friends' problems, I side-stepped so as not to disturb the little guy.
----
good news - well sorta - there is at least One honeybee left alive.
Sighting Confirmed.
My first post, hello everybody!
Here's a new angle on the bee problem. It seems federal scientists are checking to see if melamine (the stuff that killed all the dogs and cats) might have gotten into commercial bee food. Here's a link to the article:
http://rantsfromtherookery.blogspot.com/2007/05/melamine-in-bee-food.html
Welcome lookingghost !
I think right now its just so easy to blame melamine on everything. Maybe it is the problem in this case but I don't know how likely it is. There is one thing that makes me think it is possible.
Melamine makes protein levels in food appear higher. I remember reading that remaining bees in a hive were weak. Wouldn't this be expected if they weren't getting enough protein? Perhaps the rest flew off to do their job but came up short when returning to the hive. Meaning they ran out of fuel. But so far there hasn't been a dead bee find. You'd expect to find dead bees all over the place.
Who knows what the bees did when they became weak. Maybe they flew off until they collapsed and were so widely scattered that the be corpses were easily overlooked.
But with that in mind I haven't seen anything but maybe a couple of bumble bees this year where I live. There has been a lack of wasps, yellow jackets, honey bees, etc.
Has anyone else noticed a lack of other bee type creatures?
I can't vouch for downtown Indy since I am usually inside a building or driving to and from there and have no reason to linger outside, but where I live in Greenfield we still have plenty of wasps, yellow jackets, and those teensy "sweat bee" things flying around and dropping by for a visit. Up close and personal. Ew. I am allergic and tend to get uptight when they land in my hair, but I digress.
I noticed quite a few bee-types out earlier this year than what passes for normal here, but they seem very determined to get inside for some reason. We live in apartments so maybe they are looking for flowers or some AC, who knows.
I still haven't seen a single honey bee in years. I had noticed a distinct decline while living in Arkansas and haven't seen one in at least 4 years since moving here. Because we live near active farms, it struck me as odd when we first moved here. Then again, so did the annual lady bug invasion.
I'd like for other people in larger cities to chime in. I wonder if I am alone in noticing a lack of bee type insects.
There are bees on my squash today.
When my rosemary blooms, I'll have a better idea. When it blooms it is usually covered in bees.
I did notice a dead bees early in spring.
I'm partial to the changed-magnetic-field theory.
Here's an interesting article with a hypothesis that the bees flew too high:
http://www.synchronizm.com/blog/index.php/2007/03/29/the-bees-who-flew-too-high/
Here's an article about how it feels to have a magnet embedded in your skin:
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mods/news/2006/06/71087
How does that fit together? If the scout bees use a magnetic "landmark" in their dance that tells the rest of the bees where to find pollen, but the magnetic landmark has moved since they discovered the path, and if the bees keep flying higher to find the missing magnetic landmark, that could lead them to go too high and die.
I had wondered if there were any news reports of massive numbers of bees disabling airplanes...?!? Thanks for including that!
Oh, yeah--one more thing--I noticed that I can do much of my morning shower with my eyes closed. I know where I am by the feel of the water. But if the water to suddenly stop, or to change directions--say, start coming from above, or start coming from 3 directions at once--then I would have to open my eyes because I would no longer know where to find things. It would be pretty dang traumatic, probably!
We have been at solar minimum for quite some time, with one month (or more) going with no sunspots at all, which is pretty unusual. (I've been watching http://www.spaceweather.com for a couple years.) Since a quiet sun has less emissions to bend the earth's magnetic field, I'm wondering if the unbent magnetic field is higher above the earth than the bent field.
One more thing--some of the reading I've done about this indicates that in the 1950s there was another disappearance of honeybees--and in the 1980s. It sounds like something that flows with the sun cycle.
Since we're starting to have more sunspots again, I'm watching for reports that the bees are recovering (or at least returning to their previous habitats).
In the meantime, I understand that New Zealand has been a good source of queen bees for places in the northern hemisphere that have lost theirs.
I've seen stories about magnetic north drifting. Also isn't there evidence that the magnetic field has been slowly weakening? Would this have an impact? Now I know power lines produce a magnetic flux. Could this be causing problems as well? Maybe our expanding power grid is the culprit.
Yes, I've read that, too, about the magnetic field weakening. I've been watching both spaceweather.com and iceagenow.com for about 2 years. It's interesting to check them together.
I think the bees can cope with our artificial EM fields, but I think when things they have come to depend on suddenly change, then that's when they get in trouble. And I think that the timing of the change has a big impact on their reaction.
Yes on both, the MF does drift and it *is* weakening.
we may be approaching a magnetic reversal, or flip.
A magnetic reversal will make Y2k look like nothing. It will likely lead to a mass extinction of all migratory animals. Every airplane in the world will need their compasses replaced. Same goes for every ship. What else?
Its difficult to say in our 21st century techo-world, but the effects
may be far reaching.
also remember there is evidence that hugh techtonic activity occurs during the mag. reversals.
Wouldn't our own sense of radar and direction be knocked out too? I know I get disoriented easily enough as it is, a magnetic reversal would really screw me up.
I don't think our radar would. It shoots out a signal and waits for a response. I don't know what all is in it. Anything in the world with a magnetic indicator will be useless.
Oh I meant more of our own sense of direction and sense of things around us.
Just posted some doom enriched info here:
http://www.climatepatrol.com/forum/15/2648/pg1/index.php
| Quote From Source: |
| The dead bees under Dennis vanEngelsdorp's microscope were like none he had ever seen. He had expected to see mites or amoebas, perennial pests of bees. Instead, he found internal organs swollen with debris and strangely blackened. The bees' intestinal tracts were scarred, and their rectums were abnormally full of what appeared to be partly digested pollen. Dark marks on the sting glands were telltale signs of infection. "The more you looked, the more you found," said VanEngelsdorp, the acting apiarist for the state of Pennsylvania. "Each thing was a surprise." Scientists have scoured the country, finding eerily abandoned hives in which the bees seem to have simply left their honey and broods of baby bees. "We've never experienced bees going off and leaving brood behind," said Pennsylvania-based beekeeper Dave Hackenberg. "It was like a mother going off and leaving her kids." Researchers have picked through the abandoned hives, dissected thousands of bees, and tested for viruses, bacteria, pesticides and mites. So far, they are stumped. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
This has has happened in the past has it not? I mean I dont know if its the same issue with the organs and stuff, but there have been die offs before.
I wonder if whoever said "It may be due to genetically altered food we are planting"....may be on to something
yes there have been reports of CCD before, but nothing quite like this. something is very wrong here.
Well we are modifying crops so that the pollen contains pesticides.
These folks know that bees eat pollen. Its hard not to suppose that its deliberate.
All of my life, I've seen people do self destructive things for short term gains. It was a turning point for me when I realized that folks at the heights of industry engage in the same foolhardy practices.
http://www.healthy.net/scr/news.asp?id=9187
| Quoting Weaseldog - posted on 6/11/2007 at 12:18 |
All of my life, I've seen people do self destructive things for short term gains. It was a turning point for me when I realized that folks at the heights of industry engage in the same foolhardy practices. |
Does anyone know how long they have been feeding the bees high fructuse corn syrup? Fungus/mycotoxin is used in the manufacture of that. The problems the bees presented with might be traced to a fungal infection.
| Quote From Source: |
| MADRID - A parasite common in Asian bees has spread to Europe and the Americas and is behind the mass disappearance of honeybees in many countries, says a Spanish scientist who has been studying the phenomenon for years. The culprit is a microscopic parasite called nosema ceranae said Mariano Higes, who leads a team of researchers at a government-funded apiculture centre in Guadalajara, the province east of Madrid that is the heartland of Spain's honey industry. He and his colleagues have analysed thousands of samples from stricken hives in many countries. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
sOOoo - can it be stopped ?
these little guys are kinda good to have around.
finally. i'm impressed/disappointed it took people this long to find the culprit
| Quote From Source: |
Treatment for nosema ceranae is effective and cheap -- 1 euro (US$1.4) a hive twice a year -- but beekeepers first have to be convinced the parasite is the problem. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
I took my PCAT this morning and this was actually talked about in an essay for the reading comprehension section. I couldn't help but think of you guys.
Apparently there's a fungus that these little buggers hate, that doesn't effect bees. And the bees attack it when it's put into their hives, so they spread the fungus around, and end up killing these little attackers within a few days. Nice natural solution.
sounds like some bee keepers have lost about half of their bees already this year according to what i saw on 60 minutes tonight.
just a side note...wouldnt it be nice if we would genetically engineer bees without stingers to replace the ones we have already? i know we would screw it up somehow but in theory it would be nice.
.....
STILL a problem ...
| Quote From Source: |
| Colony collapse disorder (CCD) emerged last year, and by spring 2007 bees were dying in huge numbers - over the year as a whole the total bee population fell by 30%. Some beekeepers lost closer to 90%, and the fear is it will get worse. Beekeeper Gilly Sherman says: "It's worse than last year, and last year was worse than the year before, so it's bad, and there are a lot of good big beekeepers that are having a lot of problems. "I think we're coming in for a big train wreck." |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
| Quote From Source: |
| Bees' influence on supermarket shelves is vast. As well as fruits and vegetables, it could get as far as beef and dairy products because cows are fed alfalfa - another bee-pollinated plant. Of course honey would disappear altogether without bees. More money and more commitment to research are called for to keep this essential industry going. In a world so dominated by man it may come as a big shock to realise there are some things we cannot do without nature's help. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
| Quote From Source: |
| Al Hicks was standing outside an old mine in the Adirondacks, the largest bat hibernaculum, or winter resting place, in New York State. It was broad daylight in the middle of winter, and bats flew out of the mine about one a minute. Some had fallen to the ground where they flailed around on the snow like tiny wind-broken umbrellas, using the thumbs at the top joint of their wings to gain their balance. All would be dead by nightfall. Mr. Hicks, a mammal specialist with the state’s Environmental Conservation Department, said: “Bats don’t fly in the daytime, and bats don’t fly in the winter. Every bat you see out here is a ‘dead bat flying,’ so to speak.” They have plenty of company. In what is one of the worst calamities to hit bat populations in the United States, on average 90 percent of the hibernating bats in four caves and mines in New York have died since last winter. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
| Quote From Source: |
| A survey of 22 apiarists from 10 states who took their bees to California to help get out the almond crop estimates about 37 percent of the 230,500 colonies managed by those beekeepers have been lost, said Jeff Pettis, a research entomologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's bee research lab in Beltsville, Md. A year ago, a similar survey put bee losses at just 30 percent. "There is a significant crisis going on here," Dave Mendes, a beekeeper based in Fort Myers and Dartmouth, Mass., said last week from California. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
With the crash of our economy this has become the forgotten story for the most part. Have they actually identified the problem or are they still guessing?
fyi - this is now our 4th 'most viewed' thread.
Crap -- they are related, look at this:
| Quote From Source: |
| Bat Pollination After dark, moths and bats take over the pollinator night shift. Bats are very important pollinators in tropical and desert climates. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
I wonder if all of the this genetically modified food we have created is doing it......
FW - if thats the case, and it may well be, We Are SCREWED.
| Quote From Source: |
| The pollination of crops by bees is responsible for a third of the food produced in the US. One in every three mouthfuls has been touched by their tiny feet; but our six-legged friends are in trouble. They are getting sick and leaving their hives. Without bees, food gets more expensive - some products could disappear altogether. Colony collapse disorder (CCD) emerged last year, and by spring 2007 bees were dying in huge numbers - over the year as a whole the total bee population fell by 30%. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
-
Certainly no pun intended, ..
They'll be back.
As I've said previously, related to this topic generally, my impression (as a horticulturalist /- consultant), .. is that the progressively colder conditions over the past 7 or 8 years where looked a from one year to the next generally ...
(This needs to be qualified ... per my own appreciation, i.e. more .. "sensibly")
.. this where looked at together with the more specific timing of different specific influxes of cold "energy", mainly through colder-season months—here in the West were I live—and mainly where looking at the idea of colder "rainfall" generally, i.e. in somewhat more simple terms, "cold" switching to "dank", and then more or less directly back to cold again ..
(essentially, no real drying periods between)
. . has been what's fostered each of the other main factors ("mites", different disease, etc..), pointed to, as having been suspected as having either lent to or "caused", "the bees" decline.
My general "sense", is that things - environment relative to this broader idea, will warm back up again gradually, progressively over the next 3 or 4 years - and then further still, fostering generally, and facilitating the return of their general abundance.
(As I'd stated previously, .. none of this "warming" - or otherwise colder "energy", being related—in my view—to whatever grander postulation associated with Global Warming, etc..)
it'll be good for us all, if they do make a comeback.
I worry tho, that we're starting to problems with multiple pollinator species...
Hey Richard, when was the last time you saw snow falling where you live? Was there any accumulation?
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hey. "thedood" ..
.. The last week of January. / Maybe two inches or so - only.
(Check the link following, to view an image - with pointer, identifying my location fairly closely.) location visual
Paradise, CA .. as noted beneath my avatar.
Noteworthy relative to this report, Paradise is located within the Sierra Nevada foothills (western slope), on a ridge overlying and just 20 miles or so to the east of Chico, CA. The ridge is fairly steep where considering the different orographic challenges it presents specific system energy moving in from both the west and south.
Relative to this topography, the elevation where I live specifically, is about 1700 ft. even, while upper Paradise is closer to 1800 ft.. This can make quite a bit of difference, not necessarily where considering frequency of snow, .. but almost always, its accumulation.
More "up the hill", in upper Paradise, they got maybe 6 or so inches with this most recent snow event.
Also of note, two further points.
One, due to the strong and fairly immediate orographic challenges presented different storms "moving in" from out over the Pacific, by the ridge on which Paradise is situated, we receive 50-plus inches of precip. annually: largely in the form of rain, or hail - (definitely frequent).
And two, snow here, isn't an annual event.
I've been here since 1999, and we've had snow—of any consequence at all, i.e. that has actually held together - as snow, to accumulate at all "on the ground"—only three different times.
This recent late January event addressed above, was in fact the only snowfall here this year.
10:04z - 080403
| Quoting richard583 - posted on 4/2/2008 at 16:24 |
- Certainly no pun intended, .. They'll be back. As I've said previously, related to this topic generally, my impression (as a horticulturalist /- consultant), .. is that the progressively colder conditions over the past 7 or 8 years where looked a from one year to the next generally ... (This needs to be qualified ... per my own appreciation, i.e. more .. "sensibly") .. this where looked at together with the more specific timing of different specific influxes of cold "energy", mainly through colder-season months—here in the West were I live—and mainly where looking at the idea of colder "rainfall" generally, i.e. in somewhat more simple terms, "cold" switching to "dank", and then more or less directly back to cold again .. (essentially, no real drying periods between) . . has been what's fostered each of the other main factors ("mites", different disease, etc..), pointed to, as having been suspected as having either lent to or "caused", "the bees" decline. My general "sense", is that things - environment relative to this broader idea, will warm back up again gradually, progressively over the next 3 or 4 years - and then further still, fostering generally, and facilitating the return of their general abundance. (As I'd stated previously, .. none of this "warming" - or otherwise colder "energy", being related—in my view—to whatever grander postulation associated with Global Warming, etc..) |
_
hey. Jeff ..
How about, .. "God bless us, everyone."
Hope the main element involved isn't more along those lines.
(one can only. ?)
I certainly don't like the idea of manipulating flora very much myself.
___
And with this, hope again (inferred) more, that I'm right, about the more "specific" (with emphasis) turn, and "character shift" that climate has taken ...
—I believe more or less cyclical - i.e. in a broader sense, i.e. where considering a periodicity perhaps not all that easily fathomable in particularly: .. like a once in every hundred years or so type thing; .. impacting bees, along together with perhaps even some others things .. of which, we're not aware particularly / .... but more or less "natural" process related—
... @ in fact being the main adversarial element in place where considering the "die off".
This Spring should tell more.
(That's where my faith sits. Bzzz-zzzz.)
18:42z - 080403
-
Connected to what I've said above - Jeff, ...
I just wanted to emphasize further, with regard to what I've said above more in particularly about .. "things" having grown (incrementally) more cold, and more toward "dank", gradually over the past 7 or 8 years, ..... that this idea is - at least per my impression, .. fairly obvious from an horticultural point of view.
In point of fact, I don't know why it isn't addressed more, publicly.
19:00z - 080403
.... from 2003 ....
| Quote From Source: |
| The report on bee-deaths, published by the French Comité Scientifique et Technique (CST), shows that the use of the pesticide GAUCHO is jointly responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of bee colonies. Environmental activists and beekeeper unions are calling for a ban on the agricultural toxin. The summary of the report states: "The results of the examination on the risks of the seeds-treatment GAUCHO are alarming. The treatment of seeds by GAUCHO is a significant risk to bees in several stages of life." The 108-page report was made by order of the agricultural ministry of France by the universities of Caen and Metz as well as by the Pasteur Institute. The use of GAUCHO on sunflowers was prohibited in France four years ago because of the high risk to bees. However after this step, the bee-deaths did not decrease noticeably - beekeepers are blaming this on the extensive use of agricultural toxins in maize cultivation. The concluding-report of the CST agrees, stating: "Concerning the treatment of maize-seeds by GAUCHO, the results are as alarming as with sunflowers. The consumption of contaminated pollen can lead to an increased mortality of care-taking-bees, which can explain the persisting bee-deaths even after the ban of the treatment on sunflowers". The pesticide GAUCHO (containing the active substance Imidacloprid) is produced by the German BAYER-group. With an annual turnover of more than 500 million Euro this is the group´s top selling agricultural agent. Critics assume that the high sales figures are the reason why the company is contesting a ban on its use. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
... still a mystery here.
| Quote From Source: |
| The mysterious disappearance of honey bee colonies in the United States due to colony collapse disorder is a major concern for New England growers of cranberries and blueberries, who must rent thousands of hives from commercial bee operations to maintain fruit harvests worth over $100 million each year. John Burand of the University of Massachusetts Amherst has received a three-year, $150,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for research aimed at improving the health of honey bees and bumble bees, which are the main pollinators of blueberries and cranberries and important pollinators of apples, squash and pumpkins. Collaborators on the grant include Anne Averill and Stephen Rich of the UMass Amherst department of plant, soil and insect sciences, who formed the UMass Amherst Bee Consortium with Burand in the fall of 2007, and Francis Drummond, an insect ecologist from the University of Maine at Orono. Since 2006, the workers in many honey bee colonies in the United States have vanished due to colony collapse disorder (CCD), a condition where adult worker bees abandon a seemingly healthy hive, and Averill, an insect behaviorist and team leader at the UMass Amherst Cranberry Station, has also noticed that some species of bumble bees are disappearing. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
so I googled Imidacloprid ...
| Quote From Source: |
| Imidacloprid is an insecticide manufactured by Bayer Cropscience (part of Bayer AG). It is sold under a variety of trade names including Kohinor, Admire, Advantage, Gaucho, Merit, Confidor, Hachikusan, Premise, Prothor, and Winner. Imidacloprid was first patented in the United States in U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,060, on May 3, 1988, by Nihon Tokushu Noyaku Seizo K.K. of Tokyo, Japan. In France, its use (as Gaucho) has become controversial in terms of a possible link to derangement of behavior in domesticated honeybees. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
Spring is here and it is time for the bees to be doing their thing. This is when you'll start hearing more stories about the disorder. I hope it clears up but I don't think we'll be that lucky.
last Saturday when it got near 80 degrees, there were quite a few bees (some honey, but mostly bumble) outside. Now, nothing. The snow is moving in!
I've seen a ton of dead bees lately. I mean a TON.
Just last week I walked out front and saw 5 dead bees in front of my apartment.
i wonder if its the cold moving back in thats killed the bees in the PNW. they just came out too early.
| Quote From Source: |
| Washington beekeepers say a devastating new pathogen is killing their bees in droves, just one year after many were relieved that they had avoided a mysterious colony collapse disorder that silenced hives all over the country. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
I was watching "The Bee Movie" last night with the kids. I question the timing of it. Its a big public service message. Its almost like the government had hollywood make the movie to say killing bees is bad and what would happen if they were not around. Its rather.....odd to see.
so, I was out walking around today and I see this bush. There's a few bees quickly doing their thing. Then I look away somewhere else for 15 seconds, then look back again but they left already.
Then a couple minutes later, the wind starts blowing around 15 mph (yeah it was 38 degrees at the time), and then the light rain started. Then the rain got pretty heavy...
Just a bit eerie seeing bees doing their thing when it's 38 outside. Not to mention the wind. 
man - I tell ya - things feel about half-a-bubble-off lately
| Quote From Source: |
| Wild bee populations around the UK are experiencing "catastrophic declines", the Bumblebee Conservation Trust has warned. Mary Celeste Syndrome - where a hive is found almost completely deserted - has appeared in Scotland. "Without pollination, flowering crops like beans, peas, strawberries and raspberries won't produce anything to harvest, and wildflowers won't produce any seeds. "The loss of the nation's pollinators is likely to affect your dinner plate, and will change the wider countryside beyond recognition." The beekeeper said the US government was spending about £8.1m on research into Mary Celeste Syndrome, called Colony Collapse Disorder in the US. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
Seriously, does anybody but me see a connection with the recent food price spikes and the honey-bee thing? And the timing of the BEE Movie?? Seriously ya'll need to watch that movie. If that wasn't a government message I don't know what is. The premise was to show what would happen if the bees did not work. Also it was bad to steal thier honey and hurt them or kill them. I mean you really have to watch that movie..the connection is so blatent it slaps you in the face.
I mean I try not to get into conspiracies but ya know..this just is to coincidental.
Rice is going to be the new staple because there are no bees left to pollinate the other grains right? Wheat pollinates itself though....so I'm not sure whats going on with that.
Look how much food prices have climbed. Tell me there is no connection because I'm feeling a little alone on this one here.
FW - I'm honestly beginning to think we'll be lucky to make it
to 2012 before the wheels fall off...
| Quote From Source: |
| SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A survey of bee health released Tuesday revealed a grim picture, with 36.1 percent of the nation's commercially managed hives lost since last year. Bees are dying at unsustainable levels, the president of the Apiary Inspectors of America says. Last year's survey commissioned by the Apiary Inspectors of America found losses of about 32 percent. As beekeepers travel with their hives this spring to pollinate crops around the country, it's clear the insects are buckling under the weight of new diseases, pesticide drift and old enemies like the parasitic varroa mite, said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, president of the group. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
| Quote From Source: |
| Masses of honeybees started dying off around the world in late 2006. The phenomenon is called colony collapse disorder, when adult honeybees leave the hive and die. The cause is unknown. Scientists are looking into diseases, parasites, environment stresses and management stresses, which include nutrition problems. And they're looking hard, because the honeybee population isn't just about pretty flowers. Bees are crucial for agriculture pollination. According to an article from the Public Library of Science, "In 2000, the value of American crops pollinated by bees was estimated to be $14.6 billion." |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
This is just anecdotal, but yesterday and today, there have been bees attending my favorite magnolia tree. I have been unable to get my morning whiff of fresh magnolia because of them. 
| Quote From Source: |
| A record 36 percent of U.S. commercial bee colonies have been lost to mysterious causes so far this year and worse may be yet to come, experts told a congressional panel Thursday. The year's bee colony losses are about twice the usual seen following a typical winter, scientists warn. Despite ambitious new research efforts, the causes remain a mystery. "We need results," pleaded California beekeeper Steve Godlin. "We need a unified effort by all." The escalating campaign against what's generically called colony collapse disorder includes more state, federal and private funding for research. Publicity efforts are getting louder -- a costumed Mr. Bee was seen wandering around Capitol Hill this week -- and lawmakers are becoming mobilized. On Thursday, Congress heard from farmers with troubled crops, from beekeepers struggling with lost hives, from frustrated researchers and even from corporate leaders worried about their own economic futures. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
| Quote From Source: |
| WASHINGTON (AP) -- Food prices could rise even more unless the mysterious decline in honey bees is solved, farmers and businessmen told lawmakers Thursday. Farmers say their businesses are feeling the sting of the decline of honey bees. "No bees, no crops," North Carolina grower Robert D. Edwards told a House Agriculture subcommittee. Edwards said he had to cut his cucumber acreage in half because of the lack of bees available to rent. About three-quarters of flowering plants rely on birds, bees and other pollinators to help them reproduce. Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion annually in crop value. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
THIS story should be page One, every day... but of course
the MSM has more important things to do
Food prices are going to be prohibitive for most people soon if all of this bad news doesn't quit coming. What's worse is speculators take every shred of bad news and double or triple the cost associated w/ the actual risk.
This has made it into the movies. It's talked about in the new movie "The Happening"
I walk a little over 3 miles from work to home every day and I'm seeing a few dead or dying (writhing on the ground) bees on the ground. I'm in southern california right now so...this ain't good.
At least you are seeing bees. I have not seen any in a while.
I have been seeing some bees around here. They have been flying around flowers. Not many bees, but some...and they're alive.
This is in northern Oklahoma.
I haven't seen a honey bee or yellow jacket this year. The yellow jackets were actually a nuisance up until a couple of years ago.
| Quote From Source: |
| Britain's honeybees have suffered catastrophic losses this year, according to a survey of the nation's beekeepers, contributing to a shortage of honey and putting at risk the pollination of fruits and vegetables The survey by the British Beekeepers' Association (BBKA) revealed that nearly one in three of the UK's 240,000 honeybee hives did not survive this winter and spring. In the US, honey yields have been decimated by honeybee loses of 36%, many due to colony collapse disorder (CCD), a mysterious disappearance linked to the blood-sucking varroa mite, lethal viruses, malnutrition, pesticides, and a lack of genetic diversity. CCD has spread to Canada, France, Germany and Italy but has not yet been confirmed by government in the Britain. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |
| Quote From Source: |
| The German Coalition against Bayer Dangers today brought a charge against Werner Wenning, chairman of the Bayer Board of Management, with the Public Prosecutor in Freiburg (south-western Germany). The group accuses Bayer of marketing dangerous pesticides and thereby accepting the mass death of bees all over the world. The Coalition introduced the charge in cooperation with German beekeepers who lost thousands of hives after poisoning by the pesticide clothianidin in May this year. Since 1991 Bayer has been producing the insecticide Imidacloprid, which is one of the best selling insecticides in the world, often used as seed-dressing for maize, sunflower, and rape. Bayer exports Imidacloprid to more than 120 countries and the substance is Bayer´s best-selling pesticide. Since patent protection for Imidacloprid expired in most countries, Bayer in 2003 brought a similarly functionning successor product, Clothianidin, onto the market. Both substances are systemic chemicals that work their way from the seed through the plant. The substances also get into the pollen and the nectar and can damage beneficial insects such as bees. |
| Click source url to view entire story. |